Methods and apparatus for determining optimal rf transmitter placement via a coverage metric

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for optimizing the placement of RF components within an environment. The system operates by defining a spatial model associated with the environment, determining a first placement location of the RF device within the spatial model, determining a coverage area associated with the RF device, identifying a set of gaps associated with the coverage area, calculating a coverage metric based on the set of gaps, determining a second placement location of the RF device within the spatial model based on the coverage metric, and placing the AP in the second placement location within the environment if the coverage metric is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold.

1 . A method of positioning an RF device within an environment, comprising the steps of:
 defining a spatial model associated with the environment;   determining a first placement location of the RF device within the spatial model;   determining a coverage area associated with the RF device;   identifying a set of gaps associated with the coverage area;   calculating a coverage metric based on the set of gaps;   determining a second placement location of the RF device within the spatial model based on the coverage metric;   calculating a second coverage metric based on a second set of gaps; and   placing the RF device in the second placement location within the environment if the second coverage metric is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further including repeating the step of identifying the set of gaps when the coverage metric is greater than the predetermined threshold. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the coverage metric is based on the area of the set of gaps. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the coverage metric includes a measure of overlap associated with coverage area. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the coverage area associated with the RF device includes performing an RSSI calculation. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein defining the spatial model includes determining the location of one or more barriers within the environment. 
   
   
       7 . A system for positioning an RF device within an environment, comprising:
 a processor configured to accept a spatial model associated with the environment, determine a first placement location of the RF device within the spatial model, determine a coverage area associated with the RF device, identify a set of gaps associated with the coverage area, calculate a first coverage metric based on the set of gaps, determine a second placement location of the RF device within the spatial model based on the second coverage metric, and compare the second coverage metric to a predetermined threshold; and   a display for displaying the spatial model and the second placement location.   
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the processor computes the coverage metric based on the area of the set of gaps. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor computes the coverage metric based in part on overlap associated with the coverage area. 
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the processor computes the coverage area associated with the RF device by performing an RSSI calculation. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the spatial model includes the location of one or more barriers within the environment. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the RF device is a wireless access point. 
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the wireless access point conforms to a 802.11 specification. 
   
   
       14 . A method of positioning a plurality of RF transmitters within an environment, comprising the steps of:
 defining a spatial model associated with the environment and the RF transmitters;   determining a first set of placement locations for the plurality of RF transmitters within the spatial model;   determining a set of coverage areas associated with the plurality of RF transmitters;   identifying a set of gaps associated with the set of coverage areas;   calculating a coverage metric based on the set of gaps;   determining a second placement location of at least one of the RF transmitters within the spatial model based on the coverage metric;   calculating a second coverage metric based on a second set of gaps; and   placing the at least one RF transmitter in the second placement location within the environment if the second coverage metric is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value.   
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein positioning the plurality of RF transmitters includes positioning devices selected from the group consisting of RFID devices, WiMax devices, Bluetooth devices, and UWB devices.